The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Last year, I reviewed The Iron King by Julie Kagawa.And while the story didn’t end on a huge cliffhanger or anything, I couldn’t wait for the second book in the series to be released.

But then it was and I was busy and I just never got around to reading it.

Boy, do I wish I had read it sooner!

— Description from GoodReads

Aside from the gorgeous cover, this book has a lot going for it.A love triangle between Meghan, the hilarious and roucous Puck, and the icy and stoic Ash. Can I just confess my love of Ash right now? Sigh. I guess I have a thing for jerky, distant boys.

Meghan’s attempts to be brave and emotionless in the face of Queen Mab of the Unseelie Court, who would sooner turn her into an ice sculpture than look at her.

Soon, Meghan is whisked away on another adventure to save the Faerie courts from the encroaching and destructive Iron Realm.

The world within the pages of The Iron Daughter is rich and inventive. The environment is whimsical and terrifying at the same time. Meghan faces the challenges as I would imagine any normal person would do — she is weak and afraid at times, struggling to overcome the power of her adversaries.She does not have some magic switch that just makes her invincible. She struggles with controlling her glamour — the Faerie powers she inherited from her father.

The story is about forbidden love. Ash is kind of a jerk in this book, and at first it had me flashing back to New Moon when Edward leaves Bella “for her own good.”

But there is a *reason* that Ash turns into a complete butthead. And Kagawa explains that reason — I even guessed it long before Ash gives Meghan the explanation.

I really enjoyed the pull of their relationship — they both know it is wrong — their families are mortal enemies and it is forbidden in Faerie law. But each understands the inner-workings of the other and their love blooms because of it.

This was not some ridiculous love for a hot boy that we see so often in YA literature. Ash has a depth that I haven’t seen in many male characters in this genre.

I was oh-so-happy with the ending of this book. But with another book just released, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Sigh. Julie Kagawa knows how to pull my heart strings!